BY now, even if you are not an animated movie buff, you would have heard of — or even watched — Boboiboy The Movie.
The start of last week saw the big screen hit from local animation content developer Animonsta Studios reach the RM16 million mark at the box office, entertaining some 1.5 million viewers since its release on March 3.
Boboiboy The Movie is currently ranked the number one local animated feature film and fourth in box office collection for local movies. Having debuted in Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia, it is fast gaining traction in terms of fans and revenue in the region too.
Boboiboy is a successful TV series that features a little boy who wields an alien technology that transforms him into an amazing super hero. In every episode, BoBoiBoy and his friends fight against aliens who invade Earth for its cocoa beans.
However, the movie — which took RM5 million, two years and 50 talents to make — is not a continuation of the TV series. The full-feature animation sees Boboiboy and his friends on an adventure on a mysterious alien island that houses an ancient Sfera Kuasa with untold powers.
Creator and director Nizam Razak said Monsta, which is Animonsta Studios rebranded, is already thinking of a sequel to the movie, apart from completing the third Boboiboy televsion series, Boboiboy Galaxy. Nizam harbours ambitions of making the company’s intellectual property, comprising fresh content with good values for the universal market, truly global. He aims to reach audiences in 60 to 70 countries one day.
“The future is bright for the local animation industry although there are a lot of failures behind the successes. Malaysians should not be scared of creating content. Demand is huge and people will always consume media,” said Nizam, who is also Monsta chief executive officer.
“And there are a lot of platforms for the content to be consumed — YouTube and iflix, apart from the traditional platforms. Content such as Boboiboy The Movie also triggers opportunities for other businesses such as merchandising.”
Animation companies like Cyberjaya-based Monsta and firms involved in games, new media and visual effects recorded the highest growth in total Multimedia Super Corridor export sales, with 69 per cent increase from the previous year, boasting a collective revenue amounting to RM7.23 billion.
LEARNING THE TRADE
Born in Muar, Johor and raised in Malacca, Nizam began his foray into the world of animation when he read comics such as Dragonball and Doraemon in primary school, and Ujang and Alam Perwira when he became a teenager.
Circa 1997 when Internet was available in Malaysia, Nizam began to have an interest in graphic design through interaction via online chat group 16rulz.
“I was in secondary school then. In addition to an online friend who was also interested in graphics, I mingled with like-minded people and learnt graphic and web design.
“Although I was a science student, I wanted to pursue studies in multimedia/graphic design. I enrolled in Multimedia University (MMU) at Cyberjaya,” said the 33-year-old.
In 2001, he signed up for foundation studies at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia.
In the second year of his degree programme, he majored in film animation because “it was something new”. In 2005, Nizam graduated with a first class degree and was the best student in his class.
“I worked for four months for a company in Damansara Perdana which developed animation for the China market. Then I met Burhanuddin Md Radzi who set up Les’ Copaque Production.
“It was a fantastic journey — he believed in and invested in the project that produced the megahit Upin & Ipin.”
In 2009, together with former Upin & Ipin creators and varsity mates Kee Yong Pin, Safwan Karim and Anas Abdul Aziz, Nizam established Monsta-Animonsta. In the same year, they pitched Boboiboy the television series to TV3. The station was willing to screen the series on two conditions — if the team completed it on time and maintains a good story.
Boboiboy aired on TV3 on March 13, 2011 and is still being screened.
“This year we have Boboiboy The Movie. And from a company with eight workers, we have grown to 70,” added Nizam.
COMPLEX PRODUCTION PROCESS
“The animation field is all about discipline, being trained in the requisite skills, learning related software, being good at storytelling and being business savvy. Talent in art is a plus.
“At university, the most crucial thing I learnt was the pipeline in animation production. People don’t know that the pipeline in this industry must be very strong similar to car manufacturing — everything must be assembled at the right time, with the stipulated quality and method. There is a lot of practical and group work.
“The business side of animation production... I learnt at Les Copaques.”
In animation production, modellers translate the concept sketch into movie characters and props/objects, rig artists put in the bones and textures that involve heavy scripting/programming so that the characters can move, animators animate the characters, render artists provide the colours and compositors combine the images, foreground and background into one layer. Sound designers, music composers and scriptwriters are also required.
“We are short of good scriptwriters. We have technical expertise for the creative industry in the country. But very few can create jokes and pace punchlines and action. It is different from mainstream movies.”
The production process is complex.
“It starts with ideation that begins with market research and looking at trends. For Boboiboy The Movie, we tried to predict the trends in two years’ time. Then we developed a plot about friendship and loyalty. Later we added the villain and humour.”
Next, casting takes place. “Casting was not so complex because we already had the characters from the series.”
Then, with the script, the planning team comes up with a checklist — the types of shots required, and the 3D models that need to be prepared according to scenes, for example.
The script is sent for audio recording after which the voice file is forwarded to the animation department. The animation team will animate according to the script, audio recording and the 3D models available. Then the files are sent for rendering and compositing before the final master goes to post-production.
TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Talent is an issue in the animation industry.
MMU Faculty of Creative Multimedia Animation and Visual Effects Programme coordinator Yusran Mazalan tells students keen on the field that they are at the right place at the right time.
In late 90s, animation in the country was limited to a few TV series (2D) such as Usop Sontorian, Kluang Man and Kampung Boy. Fast forward two decades later, we now have many animation studios producing high quality animation both for the local and international market.
The productions include Upin & Ipin (Les’ Copaque Production), BoboiBoy (Animonsta Studios), Rimba Racer (Glue Studios), Ejen Ali (WAU Animation) and Origanimals (Giggle Garage).
“The industry has grown tremendously and will continue to do so. There are a lot of animation-related jobs in the near future,” said Yusran.
To be part of the industry, one must possess both technical (software) and practical skills in animation production.
“In this day and age, you can teach yourself animation. However, it is important to function as a team. So enrol in an animation programme and develop creative and technical skills, and learn teamwork.”
In addition, an animator is observant, pays attention to detail and does not give up easily.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation creative multimedia division director Hasnul Hadi Samsudin said in its efforts to develop more talents, it has plans to run courses outside the Klang Valley.
“Animation schools need a lot of industry input. We are now looking into enhancing the quality of the teaching faculty especially outside the Klang Valley. We hope to influence technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutes to implement industry-driven creative courses through modularisation of TVET programmes with specialisation in the industry in the second half of a three-year programme,” said Hasnul.
Apart from a portfolio of animation work, students need to do research into animation companies. “Share your work online. Look at what the animation companies are posting on their Facebook pages. Students must feel proud of their art and know who they want to work for. They must be updated on the latest in the industry.”